Yes (band) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yes
Yes in concert, 1977. From left to right: Steve Howe, Alan White (behind the drums), Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Progressive rock pop rock art rock
Years active	1968–1981 1983–2004 2008–present
Labels	Atlantic Atco Arista Victory Sanctuary Eagle Frontiers Inside Out
Members	Steve Howe Geoff Downes Billy Sherwood Jon Davison Jay Schellen
Past members	Jon Anderson Chris Squire Peter Banks Bill Bruford Tony Kaye Tony O'Reilly Rick Wakeman Alan White Patrick Moraz Trevor Horn Trevor Rabin Eddie Jobson Igor Khoroshev Oliver Wakeman Benoît David

Yes are an English progressive rock band. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout their history, during which 20 musicians have been full-time members. Since February 2023, the band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood, singer Jon Davison, and drummer Jay Schellen. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers.

Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. They have sold 13.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the U.S., as well as more than 30 million albums worldwide. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Their discography spans 23 studio albums. In April 2017, Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which chose to induct current and former members Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White, and Rabin.

History

Yes was formed in London in 1968 by lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Bill Bruford. They began performing original songs and rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs, as evidenced on their self-titled first album from 1969, and its follow-up Time and a Word from 1970. A change of direction later in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive U.S. platinum or multi-platinum sellers in The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977) and Tormato (1978), were also commercially successful. Yes toured as a major rock act that earned the band a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. The success of "Roundabout", the single from Fragile, cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond. Jon Anderson and Chris Squire remained with the group throughout the 1970s, with Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, and Bill Bruford all departing across 1970 to 1972, and being replaced by Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White, respectively. Wakeman left the group in 1974, but returned two years later, with Patrick Moraz taking his place in the interim. After a final album, Drama, and tour in 1980, both of which saw Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn replace Wakeman and Anderson, respectively, Yes disbanded in 1981.

In 1983, Squire and White reformed Yes, with Anderson and Kaye returning, and guitarist Trevor Rabin joining. Rabin's songwriting helped move the band towards mainstream rock, the result of which was 90125 (1983), their highest-selling album that featured the U.S. number-one single "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Its follow-up, Big Generator (1987), was also successful. In 1989, Anderson and former members Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe released the self-titled Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album, after which they and the other then-current Yes members–Squire, Kaye, White, and Rabin–unified into an eight-piece line-up of Yes for the 1991 Union album and its subsequent tour. From 1994 to 2001, Yes regularly released studio albums with varied levels of success. After a four-year hiatus, they resumed touring in 2008 and have continued to release new albums; their latest, Mirror to the Sky, was released in 2023. Former members Anderson, Wakeman, and Rabin collaborated as Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman from 2016 to 2018. Among the longest serving members of the band, Squire (the last original member) died in 2015, and White died in 2022.

In January 2023, Yes announced that Warner Music Group had acquired the recorded music rights and associated income streams relating to 12 studio albums from 1969 to 1987, and several live and compilation releases. In February, Schellen joined the band as a permanent member.

On 10 March 2023, Yes announced that their new studio album, Mirror to the Sky, was set for release on 19 May 2023. On the same day the opening track, "Cut from the Stars", was released as a digital single, followed by the release of "All Connected" a few weeks later. Band members have said that the formation of this album was based on continuing the creative process from The Quest, further developing "song sketches, structures, and ideas that were demanding attention". In January 2024, Billy Sherwood stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that the band have already started working on their follow-up album to Mirror to the Sky.

Band members

Current members

• Steve Howe – guitars, vocals (1970–1981, 1990–1992, 1995–2004, 2008–present)
• Geoff Downes – keyboards (1980–1981, 2011–present)
• Billy Sherwood – bass guitar (2015–present), vocals (1997–2000, 2015–present), guitars (1997–2000), keyboards (1997–1998); touring member 1994
• Jon Davison – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, occasional keyboards (2012–present)
• Jay Schellen – drums, percussion (2023–present; touring member 2016–2017, 2018–2023)

Former members

• Chris Squire – bass guitar, vocals (1968–1981, 1983–2004, 2008–2015; his death)
• Jon Anderson – lead and backing vocals, guitar, percussion, occasional synthesizer (1968–1980, 1983–1988, 1990–2004, 2008)
• Bill Bruford – drums, percussion (1968–1972, 1990–1992)
• Tony Kaye – organ, piano, synthesizer (1968–1971, 1983–1995; touring guest 2018–2019)
• Peter Banks – guitar, backing vocals (1968–1970; died 2013)
• Tony O'Reilly – drums (1968)
• Rick Wakeman – keyboards (1971–1974, 1976–1980, 1990–1992, 1995–1997, 2002–2004)
• Alan White – drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals (1972–1981, 1983–2004, 2008–2022; his death)
• Patrick Moraz – keyboards (1974–1976; guest 2018)
• Trevor Horn – lead vocals, bass guitar (1980–1981, 2016, 2017, 2018; guest 2016, 2018)
• Trevor Rabin – guitars, lead and backing vocals, keyboards (1983–1995, 2017)
• Eddie Jobson – keyboards (1983)
• Igor Khoroshev – keyboards, backing vocals (1997–2000)
• Benoît David – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2008–2012)
• Oliver Wakeman – keyboards (2008–2011)

Former live musicians

• Ian Wallace – drums (1968)
• Casey Young – keyboards (1984–1985)
• Tom Brislin – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion (2001; guest 2018)
• Dylan Howe – drums (2017)

Timeline

List of Yes band members

Discography

Studio albums

Images for kids

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  Jon Anderson in 1973

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  Trevor Rabin joined the band when it reformed in 1983 and stayed until 1994 when he decided to become a film composer. He would later be a member of Yes Featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman.

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  Yes live performance June 1998

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  In February 2012, David was replaced by singer Jon Davison (pictured)

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  Yes performing at the Westbury Theatre in New York on 18 July 2018

See also

In Spanish: Yes (banda) para niños